Donald Trump’s shooting suspect has been identified as 20-year-old who was shot dead by Secret Service agents just moments after he fired five rounds.
The former president was “pierced in the ear” by a bullet while another attendee was killed. Two more are fighting for their lives in critical condition. The suspect is understood to be from Pennsylvania.
Trump’s campaign team said he is “fine” after what law enforcement officials are treating as an assassination attempt during the rally in Butler – a small city in Pennsylvania with a population of around 13,000.
In a social media post, Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president was quickly whisked from the stage by Secret Service agents, his ear covered in blood.
The suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead, and the Secret Service said two spectators were critically injured.
Rallygoers screamed in panic. Shouts of “Get down!” rang through the crowd.
The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter — who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show — and that Trump is safe.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
It comes in a deeply polarized political atmosphere, just four months from the presidential elections and days before Trump is to be officially named the Republican nominee at his party’s convention — which his campaign said would proceed as planned.
“There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” President Joe Biden, who is running against Trump as the presumptive Democratic nominee, said in remarks. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a third person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
